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Tugs
Tugs is a television series of thirteen episodes broadcast in 1989. It was created by two of the three then-producers of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, Robert D. Cardona and David Mitton. The series was noted for the high quality of its production, which used detailed live-action models (much like the first twelve series of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends). About Tugs is about an honourable and hard-working tug fleet, the Star Fleet, in the fictional Bigg City Port during the 1920s. They complete for work against the underhanded and devious fleet, The Z-Stacks. History After two successful series of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, Robert D. Cardona and David Mitton decided to create a new television series. Their aspiration eventually materialized Tugs. Just like Thomas & Friends, the series was filmed at Shepperton Studios in the late 1980s using large scale models, much like the first twelve series of its railway-based sister series. The boat models were mounted on an underwater trolley pulled with transparent strings. Remote control devices were used to power mechanisms within the models, such as the moving eyes. Tugs first aired on Children's ITV in the UK, and then was later transmitted in several other countries including (but not necessarily limited to) Australia, Finland, Singapore, Brunei, France, and Japan. Despite the show's American influences, TUGS was never exported to North American territories. After thirteen produced episodes, TVS filed for bankruptcy, the rights to the series were sold and scattered throughout the years, and Clearwater Features closed its doors in late 1990, thus ending TUGS. In the 1990s, the show would reach American audiences in another form. Robert Cardona licensed the footage to be edited and redubbed for the American show Salty's Lighthouse. The latter renamed certain characters (Big Mac became Big Stack, Zebedee as ZeeBee etc.) and changed the location name to fit in with the Salty's Lighthouse characters. The models and sets were sold to Britt Allcroft, whose new company used the models (albeit heavily modified), for Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends from 1991-2008. The switch from live-action models to CGI for the series in 2009 ended the use of the models, but some models such as the crane Big Mickey continue to appear in the CGI series. After Tugs, Robert Cardona emigrated to Canada to direct a similar series about tugboats called Theodore Tugboat ''which was very successful in North America. David Mitton continued to work on ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends until he retired after in 2003. Episodes 13 episodes of Tugs were made from 1987 to December 1988. They first aired on the British TV channel, Children's ITV in 1989, and were later transmitted in several other countries. See: List of episodes * All thirteen episodes were originally 20 minutes but modified and edited to 15 minutes for broadcast on television. This was most likely done because of time-slot issues. The original 20 minute director's cuts of only four episodes (Sunshine, Pirate, Munitions and 4th of July) can be found on VHS. Characters Star Fleet * Captain Star # Ten Cents # Big Mac # O.J. # Top Hat # Warrior # Hercules # Sunshine * Grampus ''Z-Stacks * 'Captain Zero' # Zorran # Zebedee # Zak # Zug # Zip Other Characters * Billy Shoepack * Lillie Lightship * Izzy Gomez * Fire Tug * Lord Stinker The Major Locations in and near Bigg City Port For other minor locations, see the articles ''Bigg City Port and Other Locations in TUGS. * The Star Dock - the home of Captain Star's well-known and much-loved Star fleet. Appears in most episodes. * The Zero Dock - the home of Captain Zero's devious Z-Stack fleet. Appears in most episodes. * Lucky's Yard - this is where watercraft go to be repaired when they are damaged or in need of maintenance. They can also be scrapped. * The River - former home of Sunshine, when he worked for the Salvage Fleet. Home to Billy Shoepack, Sea Rogue, his uncle and Boomer (as a houseboat). A few towns, a railway line and a logging industry are located along the river. * Dem Der Rocks - Hazardous large rocks near the estuary, home of Lillie Lightship, appears in many episodes. * Municipal Garbage Corporation - where Lord Stinker gets his garbage loads from, and where Jack the Grappler is located. * Liner Dock - The tugs are often seen docking ocean liners in Bigg City's largest dock. Both tug fleets are frequently competing for contracts from liners to bring them into port. The Princess Alice is frequently seen in the background of most scenes at the dock, although plenty of other liners pass through as well. In "Bigg Freeze", the main liner dock freezes up due to bad weather, and the dock is replaced with a temporary one further out at sea. Cast Unfortunately, the cast of Tugs was never credited. Some of their identities are still ambiguous. However, thanks to the diligent research of various members of online forums, several have been revealed. * Patrick Allen as Captain Star (Narrator and Character) * Simon Nash as Ten Cents * Shaun Prendergast as Sunshine, Zak, Sea Rogue's Uncle and Philbert * Chris Tulloch as Zorran and the Shrimpers * John Baddeley as Top Hat, Zip, Puffa, Old Rusty, the Quarry Master and the Shrimpers * Timothy Bateson as O.J., Big Mickey, Little Ditcher, Eddie, Lord Stinker and the Garbage Master * Nigel Anthony as Warrior, Hercules, Zug, Burke, Frank, Johnny Cuba, Mighty Mo, Scuttlebutt Pete and Coast Guard's Messenger * Sean Barrett as Big Mac, Zebedee, Captain Zero, Izzy Gomez, Sea Rogue, Fire Tug, Blair, Bluenose, Jack the Grappler, the Green Eyed Pirates and Nantucket * Lee Cornes as Grampus, Billy Shoepack, Boomer, Coast Guard and the Fuel Depot * Jo Good as Lillie Lightship * Sue Glover as S.S. Vienna Read more about the original Tugs cast Other Languages Although the series only had 13 episodes, TUGS was broadcast, redubbed and VHS released in two countries. On the Internet, Tugs were said to have been called Bugserbåtar in Swedish and Os rebocadores in Portuguese, but no source has been found. Music Music was composed by Mike O' Donnell and Junior Campbell, who also composed the music for Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. Pete Zorn played the saxophone in the theme. The outro of the episode, Bigg Freeze, features vocals by Sue Glover. There was some talk of releasing a full-length three minute single of the theme music which also would have been sung by Sue, however these plans fell through due to Clearwater Features' bankruptcy. Behind the Scenes The Tugs set was built out of a large water tank, measuring 45 ft. by 25 ft. and with a depth of 14 inches. The complexity of building this tank is the reason why Tugs did not have a test pilot, unlike Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, in which one of its episodes, Down the Mine, was originally filmed as a test pilot before being re-shot for its first season. The water was 30 cm deep and was filled with blue/green dye to give the water a sense of depth. David Mitton reportedly kept goldfish in the water and fed them every day until the toxicity of the tank killed them. The models were built by DBP models. Originally, they were built to run on a motor, but these turned out to be too heavy for the models to move, so they were mounted on a chassis that was pulled by string. The same set was used for most of the episodes. The scenery was changed to represent different locations. To manoeuvre the boats, change faces, work on the set, etc., crew members wore galoshes and worked in the tank. According to model-maker Jeremy King, the constant bending down gave the crew cramps once production had ended. The models were still onsite at Shepperton Studios until around the time David Mitton died. A liquidation company came in and removed them. According to Chris Lloyd, the crew-members were offered some of the models, but they had been in a container for a long time and were damaged. Eighteen original models of the show are now owned by The Star Tugs Trust. According to a private interview in December 2012, the seller company of the face masks said, that after the production offices were cleared out, every single item came to them. They had several items about the 2nd season, but now all of them have been sold. They have gone to sellers in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. Merchandise Tugs merchandise was rather common in the early 1990s. Some of that merchandise includes: * ERTL Die-cast models - Ten Cents and Sunshine were the only ones produced. * Ten Photo Books - Different titles for the book adaptions such as Ghost Fleet (Ghosts), Warrior's Longest Day (Warrior) and Bigg City Freeze (Bigg Freeze) are altered titles of the actual episodes. Quarantine, Munitions, and 4th of July never got photo book adaptations (none have been discovered). * 1989 Annual * 1990 Annual * A Tugs board game * TUGS Bed Sheets * Jigsaw Puzzles * Thimbles * Pin Badges * Card Game * Buzz Books - "Kidnapped, Run Aground, Nothing to Declare and Treasure Hunt" * Activity Books * Bath books * TUGS Poster Magazine * Ten Cents bath toy (Japan only) * Play kit (Japan only) * Play sets with Ten Cents, Sunshine, Top Hat, and Zorran (Japan only) * Plush toys (Japan only) * VHS tapes from Castle Vision and PolyGram Video Read more about Tugs merchandise Trivia * Ten Cents, Sunshine, and Top Hat are the only characters to appear in every episode. * Up River is the only episode not to feature the Z-Stacks. * 4th of July is the only episode to have an alternate title: Regatta. * On the Sunshine/Pirate and Munitions/4th of July video descriptions, Captain Star is incorrectly called "Captain Starr" with 2 R's (as in ). * The Dock Railway engines, rolling stock and barges track gauge are 45mm (Gauge 1/G gauge), same as standard gauge characters appearing in the first twelve series of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. * High Winds and Trapped are the only episode with two Z-Stacks (Zebedee and Zug) are the focus characters. * The Port Authority is the only character mentioned throughout the series. * Hercules is absent more than any other Star Tug and the least relevant in character roles. * Big Mickey and the ocean liner model are the only Tugs models to appear in the CGI Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends (was by then called Thomas & Friends) series. also gained a face in the show's . * S.S.Vienna is renamed the S.S. Roxstar in the Thomas & Friends episode . * The whole Star Fleet is featured in Sunshine, Regatta, Ghosts, High Winds, and Bigg Freeze. If Grampus was included, the whole fleet were featured in Ghosts and Regatta. * There is an American spin-off of Tugs called Salty's Lighthouse, in which characters had Americanising accents, some had different names, and some male characters were changed to female. Most scenes were reedited to create new plots. * In the first intro, deleted scenes from Sunshine, Pirate, and Ghosts are included. * In an interview in April 2008 , David Mitton revealed that a second series had been planned well in advance of the shooting/filming of the first series. Already, over ninty-six scripts had been written by Mitton himself and other writers with a regular thirteen episodes to be produced. Most of the series would have been set Up River instead of the Bigg City Port setting, which Mitton considered restrictive and difficult to film in. As well as the same regular main cast, some new tugs would have been introduced. TVS going bankrupt ultimately halted the second series from being produced. * Interestingly, no human characters are ever seen in the show, although megaphones are used in several office windows to describe several human voices, including Captain Star and Captain Zero. Gallery TUGS logo.JPG|Ten Cents in the TUGS logo Star Fleet Full.png|The Star Fleet TUGSZstackUpRiver.jpg|The Z-Stacks References External links * *